Under the Dome

A Novel

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Raul Esparza

Length: 34 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester's Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener's hand is severed as "the dome" comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when - or if - it will go away.

Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens - town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician's assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing - even murder - to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn't just short. It's running out.

©2009 Stephen King (P)2009 Simon & Schuster

under the dome

captivating like all of kings novels draws you in then keeps you their untill the end . good job king! thats why your the king. ever think about taking off were one of our greats left off? I'm refeering to lou's walking drum. sure would like too know were those 10,000 marching elephants are heading?????????????? thanks michael

Don't be discouraged by other reviews...

Don't let the reviews about the narrator of this story discourage you. I admit he is not the best narrator of a King book but he is far from terrible as most people say. I believe his biggest issue was making different voices for the different characters. A lot of the men sounded the same. That said, this is a terrific story. As always, King brings his A game for Under The Dome and I would highly recommend it, not only to King lovers like me but to anyone looking for a fantastic book. I love the long book, which King is known for and this is a perfect example. So, Constant Reader... Enjoy!

Good Book; Download Issues

Biggest complaint was that the download somehow transferred Part 1 as Part 5 in iTunes ... so as we came to the end of Part 4, we discovered that we had missed the first 7 hours of the book! Granted, the fact that Part 4 was shorter than all the rest should have been a giveaway, but this was our first audio book and we didn't know.

As for the book, it was classic Stephen King: A sweeping cast of characters ranging from bit parts to well-developed psychological profiles. Since we missed the first 7 hours (still haven't heard it yet), I'll temper the review. We thought that starting after the dome had already descended was an interesting approach and that each new piece of the backstory that we figured out was a gift to the attentive reader ... oops. Should have expected less from Stephen King.

The storyline was interesting enough and it kept us engaged long after our road trip was over.

The narrator was ... highly variable. I didn't much care for his attempts at Maine accents or his children's voices. But it wasn't often that the narration was bad enough to take us out of the story.

Fantastic

I read this book years ago, and immediately decided it was one of my favorite books ever. I wanted to read it again, but didn't feel I had the time. This book is LONG. I decided to try it with Audible. It is GREAT!! King, knocks it out of the park again. He is definitely one of my favorite authors. Raul Esperza really brings these characters to life with his narration! I definitely definitely recommend!

Huge Stephen King fan, so...

I love nearly all of Stephen King's books. I've read this one previously with my own eyes, but Raul Esparza's performance blew me away. I want him to read me another book soon! “AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY”

incredible story, mediocre narration

I almost returned this book because of the narration but I was sucked into the story and knew I wouldn't have time to read the book myself anytime soon so I kept going.

Great book

What did you love best about Under the Dome?

The characters really came to life, by the end of the story you felt as if you knew each one.

Who was your favorite character and why?

It's a toss up, I liked " Barbie" and Rusty. They were strong leads who were always busy protecting everyone, extremely entertaining at times and empathetic to the characters around them.

Which character – as performed by Raul Esparza – was your favorite?

Twitch was great! Raul did an excellent job keeping Twitches accent/stoner vibe, but also made it clear he was smart.

Who was the most memorable character of Under the Dome and why?

I thought all the remaining characters at the domes edge were pretty memorable. They lost family members, patients, were arrested, harassed or abused, and the ones who made it back into the "world" at the end remained strong.

Excellent

Would you consider the audio edition of Under the Dome to be better than the print version?

not really, nothing like actually reading a book

Who was your favorite character and why?

Barbie because he held his composure quite well in many situations

What does Raul Esparza bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

the tone of the characters

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

definitely but didn't have time to listen to the book all in one sitting

Any additional comments?

definitely worth purchasing especially if you have the accompanying book

My opinion...His Best Book

I love King's work but like this one more than most. It a perfect blend of out there (as only King can do) but believable. This book was well written and read by the narrator.

great for movie

with a numerous characters in this book it would be interesting to see it put in a movie form. this story about a small town is somewhat stereotypical special regarding the political monarchy that resides within any small town however professional narration of this book and the way Stephen King can only do gives it a good edging and bring the characters to Life